We continue our series of profiles of rural characters with Maria Liberati, a celebrity chef and cookbook author. Warning: you may become very jealous!

Tell us a bit about where you live and what you do.

I live and work in both the USA and Italy. For about six months out of the year I live and work out of my office and/or farm in Abruzzo-office/house and/or Umbria-farmhouse. I am a celebrity chef and best-selling author of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. I host cooking programs and culinary tours at my farmhouse in Umbria (near Tuscany). And in the US I do food consulting, writing for publications and spokesperson for food-oriented companies as well as TV and radio segments on cooking healthy. I am also executive editor of the newsletter e-zine The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati which has over 20,000 subscribers worldwide.

How did you end up where you are today?

My fiance, who I met while modeling in Italy, is an architect in Rome but is from a town in the mountains of Abruzzo region in Italy. He is from the town next to the town that my great grandparents and grandparents started their vineyard and lived almost all their lives - so we have a house and share offices there. I also studied the culinary arts in Italy. But I am also there because of my successful book series The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. I am now working on the second one in the series. We also have a farmhouse in Umbria that I do my cooking programs from and will be producing some products shortly grown there at the farm. The location in Umbria is perfect for my cooking programs and the farmhouse. We are able to use the products grown at the farm for the cooking classes. But also we are located near Orvieto and very close to Tuscany - all places conducive to the true culinary Italian experience.

What do you love most about the country life?

Country life in Italy - especially in places like Abruzzo and Orvieto - provides a place where I can get in touch with my earthy side - feel close to nature and get inspired by all the beauty that I am inspired with. The life is also at a much slower pace - especially in Orvieto - so it gives me a chance to remove all the clutter from my mind. My villa in Abruzzo and life there is the inspiration for my first book series - the series is not just a cookbook but a recipe novel that includes short stories about my life and my experience in Abruzzo while developing my recipes. My farmhouse in Orvieto has become the inspiration for one of my next releases as well, the experience of renovating a farmhouse there and the wonderful people, food and experiences there. The locations in both places provide a type of peaceful and beautiful existence. They provide an old-world existence that is hard to find and a welcome change from city life.

What do you love most about living in Italy?

The style of life - it is less frenetic and people appreciate the beauty in life and consider it important to take the time to enjoy the beautiful things in life - the sun, the landscape, good food, good wine. But mostly the feeling of doing something that you are passionate about exists and comes from the Romans.

When you're in the country, what do you miss about being in the city?

In the city we get dressed up to go out at night but even during the day everyone is conscious of what they wear and is always trying to make a fashion statement. In the country, sometimes at night we get dressed up for dinner, but during the day you are always dressed casually and comfortably. So I miss a bit of elegance of being in the city every so often.

When you're in the country, what do you definitely not miss about being in the city?

The short time I have to eat lunch. In the country we enjoy a meal the way it was meant to be eaten, a two hour lunch is a usual occurrence and in the summer we eat outside in the fresh air - 'al fresco'

What do you do to stay in touch with friends and family?

Use email and internet phone. We in the country but we do have internet connection that keeps me connected to rest of the world.

Describe a typical working day in the country.

Waking up to a quiet morning and hearing mostly the birds chirping and opening my window to see the rows of olive trees on the farm. Make a light breakfast of cappuccino. The rest of the morning is usually spent going through the farm to see what we have to make for lunch and for the cooking program. What product we may want to conserve for winter or summer - that needs to be harvested. It is a small farm, so I will usually go through with one of our workers and they pick the vegetables and the salad ingredients as well as some fresh spices.

Afternoon is usually spent out on the terrace with my laptop writing. Evening is either spent eating the meal cooked during the cooking program with participants and/or hosting a wine event at a local vineyard or olive oil tasting at an ollive grove. Or since we are well-connected to the Internet and Internet camera-phone, I may spend some time doing interviews in the US. We are six hours ahead of New York City time and nine hours ahead of Los Angeles time, so I usually have to wait till afternoon or later in evening to communicate with media in the US.

Describe a non-working typical day in the country.

Waking up to a casual breakfast, walking through the herb garden which is really relaxing. If it is the summer, we may spend some time in our pool and then invite friends over for a casual lunch and or dinner or aperitivi (aperitifs) at 7 p.m. before dinner. Usually, before bed I always manage to put an entry on my blog and catch up to email.

You can find out more about Maria at http://www.marialiberati.com/